1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed and taught herein relate generally to controlling the power supplied to a vacuum cleaner's motor. More specifically, the inventions described relate to interrupting the power supplied to a vacuum cleaner's motor in response to the vacuum detecting that is approaching its maximum capacity for storing wastes, such as liquids or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to an improved system for controlling the power supplied to a vacuum cleaner's motor. Although these inventions can be used in numerous applications, the inventions will be disclosed in only a few of many applications for illustrative purposes.
Vacuum cleaners, such as wet/dry vacuums or work area vacuums, are commonly used to collect liquids and other aqueous-based debris and media from work surfaces and the like. When a wet/dry vacuum cleaner is switched to its “on” position, the vacuum motor is energized, which, in turn, rotates a blower wheel. The rotation of the blower wheel causes a vacuum within the vacuum collection drum. The vacuum created allows a volume of air to flow through an inlet plenum and into the drum of the vacuum.
Typical wet/dry vacuums will include a filter and a filter cage interfaced between the inlet plenum and the collection drum. As the vacuum collects liquids and other aqueous-based media, the collection drum fills from the bottom towards the top of the drum, which, in a typical configuration, contains the vacuum's powerhead and motor. As the drum fills, an operator must be cautious as to avoid overfilling the vacuum's drum beyond its capacity. That is, without a mechanism to prevent overfilling, an operator could carelessly continue operating the vacuum after the liquid reaches the collection drum's maximum capacity, resulting in significant damage to the vacuum and its motor.
In order to mitigate these risks, previous solutions to this problem include disposing a float within the collection drum's filter cage. The float can adjust its position depending on the amount of liquid and other debris stored in the drum of the vacuum. Typically, wet/dry vacuums are coupled to a hose for facilitating the collection of the liquid media drawn from the work surface into the drum. As the drum fills with this liquid media, the float rises and eventually contacts the inlet plenum. By contacting the plenum, the float disrupts the vacuum created in the drum, thus preventing any more liquid from being collected in the drum until the liquid is subsequently disposed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,155 to Wiese et al. discloses a wet/dry vacuum with automatic shutoff that interrupts the flow of air to a vacuum blower when water collected in the collection tank reaches a predetermined level. The system employs a float that is shaped to define a downwardly extending recess adapted to surround the filter element so that when the liquid level in the tank reaches a predetermined level, the float is buoyed upwardly until its annular rim engages the seal gasket to interrupt the flow of air to the blower inlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,587 to Parise discloses a hot water vacuum extraction machine with float sealed riser tube shut-off device that includes a float ball capable of closing off the top of the riser tube to prevent water returning with the airstream to the vacuum pump and its drive motor when overfilling the recovery tank with water. The hot water vacuum extraction machine employs a hydro-air filter with a float sealed riser tube for automatically sealing off the inlet port to the riser tube as a result of a predetermined volume of water accumulating within the recovery tank. It further prevents water from splashing into the open inlet port of the riser tube upon overfilling of the recovery tank with water.
Although these prior art solutions can be effective for preventing the collection drum from being accidentally overfilled, there are several drawbacks to them as well. For example, even after the vacuum in the collection drum is disrupted, the motor will continue operate until an operator acts upon it (e.g., manually toggles the power supply switch from its “on” position to its “off” position). Furthermore, by requiring an operator's manual intervention to disable the motor, an operator is required to consistently monitor the status of the vacuum to ensure that she is able to manually shut down the vacuum after it reaches its filling capacity.
What is required, therefore, is a solution that provides a vacuum cleaner with a mechanism for controlling the power supply to the vacuum upon detecting that the collection drum is approaching or has reached its filing capacity without the need for manual intervention.
Accordingly, the inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to systems, methods, and apparatuses for controlling the power supply of a vacuum cleaner motor that overcome the problems as set forth above.